What's the best way to go about obtaining seeds for sprouting?

[robh]

Prior to joining this site, I found some great information about eating sprouts and I even sprouted some radish seeds. I foolishly purchased a package at regular retail store for something like $2. I got less than a cup of radish sprouts out of it. I found a place that ships seeds for sprouting, but it costs like $17 minimum in shipping.

I feel like I'm going about this all wrong. I notice a lot of you eat sprouts. One member seems to live on them. I'm interested in trying that. I just don't know how to get started.

What are some sources I can check to get seeds for sprouting?

Thanks for your time,
Rob

[SunshineMN]

I get mine from Azure Standard (http://www.azurestandard.com/) for the most part. If you live close to their shipping routes they seem to be about the cheapest but they don't carry everything. Sprout People (http://sproutpeople.org/) have an amazing variety of seeds, though they seem a bit more expensive. Also Bulk Foods (http://www.bulkfoods.com/seeds.asp) has a fairly good variety and they have $5 shipping if you purchase $75 or $80 worth of goods. And the last one I'd try is Nuts Online (http://nuts.com/). They have a great variety but are a bit more expensive than the others.

I'm sure there are many other places as well. For me these seemed to be the cheaper option with enough variety for us. I really like Azure but we get fresh and frozen produce and a bunch of other items from them as well as sprouting seeds. I know certain routes for them pay no shipping (west coast ones), shipping to MN from them is only 8.5% of the order which makes ordering bulk items (25 lb bag of rye for sprouting for example) extremely cheap compared to shipping by UPS.

PS. Be careful about buying seeds meant for planting. Sometimes they are pretreated with chemicals to help them grow or to prevent pests.

[delmar]

One of the projects I am most interested in though, I am early in the process, is to figure out which plants are good for sprouting and easy to save seeds from. Two plants on my list to collect seeds from this summer are red clover and dandelions. Both have a large flower head that you can pick of and stick in a bag, to allow the seeds to fall off.

Also
Google the term "seed exchange". You might find a local group in your area that saves and trades seeds, or at the very lest sells organic seeds locally so you don't have to pay shipping.

Also call around to your local health food stores. We have one in my town that sells sprouting seeds. Though they are a bit spendy.

[SunshineMN]

delmar, you should take a serious look at amaranth. They are big ornamental flowers that yield a high amount of seeds in their extremely long groups of flowers. Also the young leaves are great in salads. The sprouted seeds taste and smell like sweet corn. It's also high in several of the essential amino acids. From what I understand they are pretty easy to grow and they are considered weeds by farmers (pigweed is one type).

"amaranth grains grow very rapidly and their large seedheads can weigh up to 1 kilogram and contain a half-million seeds in three species of amaranth"

It takes about a cup of seeds to grow a quart of sprouts. At 2.2 lbs per seedhead that's over a gallon of fresh sprouts per seedhead! I remember my aunt having a row of these growing along the front of her house when I was a kid. Each plant was loaded with these seedheads. I don't remember if she actually harvested the seeds though or if they were just for decoration.

[Living Food]

One of the projects I am most interested in though, I am early in the process, is to figure out which plants are good for sprouting and easy to save seeds from. Two plants on my list to collect seeds from this summer are red clover and dandelions. Both have a large flower head that you can pick of and stick in a bag, to allow the seeds to fall off.

I've been collecting weed seeds and sprouting them for over a year, and dandelion and clover are two of my favorites (because they're so common). I also have plantains (the green, not the fruit) growing all over near me, and you can just rip the "spike" of to harvest the seeds - you might want to look into that too.

[delmar]

I've been collecting weed seeds and sprouting them for over a year, and dandelion and clover are two of my favorites (because they're so common).
Yes, they are common and they grow back year after year! I have enjoyed dandelion greens as part of a salad for years. Long before I really started paying attention to healthy eating!


I also have plantains (the green, not the fruit) growing all over near me, and you can just rip the "spike" of to harvest the seeds - you might want to look into that too.I will look into that. In fact, this thread reminded be to check out a publication that a friend told me about this week called Edible Michiana. So I just googled it and I think I hit the beginning forager/seed saver mother load! They a sponsoring a Foraging Skills Workshop June 3 at a park 5 minutes from my house!

[MysticTree]

black mustard is yummy. You can eat the immature seed pods whole for a peppery, thirst quenching snack or you can collect the mature seed for sprouting. It grows everywhere here as a weed but I was amused to notice it being sold at my local garden centre at £3.00 a packet

[delmar]

OK
So far I am adding plantains, black mustard and amaranth to the list to check out.

[Living Food]

I eat loads of weeds, but not all of them are suitable for your purposes (easy to harvest seeds). I gather the seeds whenever I can, but it is time-consuming and not everyone would be able to do it. Take a look at the website Plants For A Future (pfaf.org), it has a database of over 7000 plants (yup you heard that right). You can search for plants with just about any specification that you want. Check it out.

[delmar]

I eat loads of weeds, but not all of them are suitable for your purposes (easy to harvest seeds). I gather the seeds whenever I can, but it is time-consuming and not everyone would be able to do it.
It sounds like you understand what I want pretty well. Though my interest is not limited only to plants easy to collect seeds for. I will also grab edible greens where I can, but that is not the topic of this thread.


Take a look at the website Plants For A Future (pfaf.org), it has a database of over 7000 plants (yup you heard that right). You can search for plants with just about any specification that you want. Check it out.Thanks for the heads up.